After a seventh season in full color and a 90 minute running time, with the start of the eighth season,, the series reverts back to an hour,, and back to black and white.
With this first episode of eighth and final season, the opening credits now include Michael Burns under the 'co-starring' section.
Wagon Train Tracker: The Season 8 train (set in 1871) is joined while underway, Only geographic reference is to the vicinity of "Colby," and the only plausible one is in western Kansas. That would place the train moving southwest through western Kansas on the Santa Fe Trail.